Alan Oakes: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=OctoberAugust 20122021}}

'''Alan Arthur Oakes''' (born 7 September 1942) is an English former [[Association football|footballer]] who holds [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]'s [[List of Manchester City F.C. records and statistics|all-time record]] for appearances. AOakes is a [[midfielder]] who, in total he, played 776 in the [[English Football League|Football League]] matches – the seventhtenth most in history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allfootballers.com/statsc.php?bid=mostleagueapps |title=The players who have made most League appearances since 1888 are (as at 22 January 2006) |work=allfootballers.com |access-date=2009-06-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927063134/http://allfootballers.com/statsc.php?bid=mostleagueapps |archive-date=27 September 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref> He is a cousin of former teammate [[Glyn Pardoe]], an uncle of defender [[Chris Blackburn]], and the father of former goalkeeper [[Michael Oakes]].

He joined Manchester City as an amateur in 1958, turning professional and making his debut a year later. He picked up numerous honours at the club, including a [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] winners medal in [[1970 European Cup Winners' Cup Finalfinal|1970]], a [[Football League First Division|First Division]] and [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] championship medal in 1967–68 and 1965–66 respectively, an [[FA Cup]] winners medal in [[1969 FA Cup Finalfinal|1969]], two [[EFL Cup|League Cup]] winners medals in [[1970 Football League Cup Finalfinal|1970]] and [[1976 Football League Cup Finalfinal|1976]], and [[FA Community Shield|FA Charity Shield]] winners medals in [[1968 FA Charity Shield|1968]] and [[1972 FA Charity Shield|1972]]. He was appointed [[player-manager]] at [[Chester City F.C.|Chester]] in 1976, and led the club to victory in the [[Debenhams Cup]] in 1977. He left the club in March 1982, and then played one FA cupCup game for [[Northwich Victoria F.C.|Northwich Victoria]] and one league game for [[Port Vale F.C.|Port Vale]]. He left the game after coaching[[Coach (sport)|coach]]ing spells at Port Vale and then Chester.

Oakes signed for [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] on amateur terms in 1958 at the age of fifteen, signing as a professional a year later; he cleaned the boots of legendary goalkeeper [[Bert Trautmann]].<ref name="profile">[http://mcivta.com/players/old/oakes-alan.html Stats] ''mcivta.com''</ref> His first-team debut came under the stewardship of [[Les McDowall]] on 14 November 1959, in a 1–1 draw with [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]].<ref name="profile"/> He went on to play 18 [[Football League First Division|First Division]] matches in [[1959–60 Football League|1959–60]].<ref name="profile"/> During the early 1960s, Oakes proved to be one of the few consistent performers in a struggling City side. He played 22 games in [[1960–61 Football League|1960–61]] and 25 games in [[1961–62 Football League|1961–62]] (scoring his first senior goal), as City were a comfortable mid-table side.<ref name="profile"/> However, despite Oakes reaching the 40 -game mark,<ref name="profile"/> they plummeted to second-from-bottom of the division in [[1962–63 Football League|1962–63]], finishing two points short of 33 -point safety benchmark set by 20th place [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]. New manager [[George Poyser]] failed to bring [[Promotion and relegation|promotion]] in [[1963–64 Football League|1963–64]] and [[1964–65 Football League|1964–65]], though by nowthen Oakes was a consistent first -team performer, making 41 league appearances in each campaign.<ref name="profile"/>

He made 51 appearances in [[1965–66 Manchester City F.C. season|1965–66]], as new [[Manager (association football)|manager]] [[Joe Mercer]] (and assistant [[Malcolm Allison]]) led City to the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] title. He played alongside other club legends such as [[Colin Bell (footballer, born 1946)|Colin Bell]], [[Mike Summerbee]], and [[Neil Young (footballer, born 1944)|Neil Young]]. Oakes then played 47 games in [[1966–67 Football League|1966–67]],<ref name="profile"/> as City retained their top-flight status with a 15th-place finish. He went on to play in all but one of the matches in City's title -winning season in [[1967–68 Manchester City F.C. season|1967–68]],<ref name="profile"/> with only defender [[Tony Book]] managing play to all 50 games. TheyIn alsoaddition, they went on to win the [[1968 FA Charity Shield]], thrashing West Bromwich Albion 6–1. He played 49 games in [[1968–69 Football League|1968–69]],<ref name="profile"/> including the [[FA Cup]] [[1969 FA Cup Finalfinal|final]], helping the "Sky Blues" to their fourth FA Cup title with a 1–0 win over [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]]. Though he never won a full international [[Cap (sport)|cap]], he represented the [[The Football League XI|Football League]] against the [[Scottish Football League XI|Scottish League]] in 1969.<ref name="profile"/>

They could only manage a tenth-place finish in [[1969–70 Manchester City F.C. season|1969–70]], but found success in the cup competitions; Oakes featured 49 times in English domestic competitions.<ref name="profile"/> He played in the [[EFL Cup|League Cup]] [[1970 Football League Cup Finalfinal|final]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]], which ended in a 2–1 victory over [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]]. He also played in the [[1970 European Cup Winners' Cup Finalfinal|final]] of the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]], which ended in a 2–1 victory over [[Górnik Zabrze]] at the [[Ernst-Happel-Stadion]] in Vienna.

He played 34 games in [[1970–71 Football League|1970–71]] as City dropped to 11th, before making 34 appearances in [[1971–72 Football League|1971–72]], helping the club to a fourth-place finish, a single point behind champions [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]].<ref name="profile"/> As other teams pulled out, Manchester City agreed to take part in the [[1972 FA Charity Shield]], and they took the shield back to [[Maine Road]] with a 1–0 win over [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] at [[Villa Park]]. However, he was restricted to just 15 appearances in [[1972–73 Football League|1972–73]],<ref name="profile"/> as City ended the campaign in 11th place under the management of [[Johnny Hart (English footballer)|Johnny Hart]]. Oakes returned to post 33 appearances in [[1973–74 Football League|1973–74]],<ref name="profile"/> the season in which [[Denis Law]] famously sent [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] out of the top-flight. New boss [[Tony Book]] failed to bring back the glory years for Manchester City though, despite Oakes making 43 appearances in [[1974–75 Football League|1974–75]].<ref name="profile"/> Playing 50 games in [[1975–76 Football League|1975–76]],<ref name="profile"/> his final honour with the club was the League Cup medal he picked up in [[1976 Football League Cup Finalfinal|1976]], with a 2–1 victory over [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]].

His last appearance for Manchester City came on 4 May 1976, coming on as [[substitute (association football)|substitute]] for [[Mike Doyle (footballer)|Mike Doyle]] against [[Manchester derby|rivals]] Manchester United at [[Old Trafford]].<ref name="profile"/> In his time at Maine Road, Oakes had become part of more trophy winning sides than any other [[History of Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City player in history]].<ref>Gary James, Manchester: The Greatest City {{ISBN|1-899538-09-7}}</ref> He was voted the club's Player of the Year in 1975.<ref name="profile"/> Amongst footballing figures of his era, Oakes was renowned for his professionalism; the great [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] manager [[Bill Shankly]] described him as "exactly the kind of player youngsters should use as a model". He made 680 league and cup appearances for Manchester City, scoring 33 goals. The only City player to come close to his record was [[Joe Corrigan]], a goalkeeper who played alongside Oakes for nine years. Oakes was inducted into the Manchester City Hall of Fame in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|title=King Ken collects plaudits |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/145/145636_king_ken_collects_plaudits.html |work=menmedia.co.uk |publisher=Manchester Evening News |date=9 February 2005 |access-date=30 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524145959/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/145/145636_king_ken_collects_plaudits.html |archive-date=24 May 2011 }}</ref>

Oakes moved to [[Football League Third Division|Third Division]] side [[Chester City F.C.|Chester]] in the summer of 1976, who had to pay Manchester City a £15,000 fee for his services.<ref name="profile"/> Although he initially signed just as a player, he was soon in charge of team affairs at [[Sealand Road]] after manager [[Ken Roberts (footballer, born 1936)|Ken Roberts]] moved upstairs. Oakes was to be [[player-manager]] throughout the remainder of his six years with the club, where he continued to break playing appearance records.

In [[1976–77 Football League|his first season at the club]], Oakes led Chester to the last-16 of the [[FA Cup]] for the first time since [[1890–91 FA Cup|1891]]. He would repeat the feat three years later and lead the club to the [[Debenhams Cup]] title in 1977. In [[1977–78 Football League|1977–78]], he came within a whisker of taking the "Seals" into the top two divisions for the first time, as they finished just two points and places outside the three promotion places. Oakes was also the man to givegave the legendary [[Ian Rush]] his big break in the professional game, handing him his Chester debut in April 1979. Oakes was widely regarded as having done a good job at Chester, but the [[1981–82 Football League|1981–82]] season saw the "Blues" [[promotion and relegation|relegated]]. Oakes left the club in March 1982 and never again managed in the Football League again.

Oakes made an [[FA Cup]] appearance for [[Northwich Victoria F.C.|Northwich Victoria]] against [[Scunthorpe United F.C.|Scunthorpe United]] in December 1982. He then became part of the coaching[[Coach (sport)|coach]]ing staff with [[Port Vale F.C.|Port Vale]], serving as [[reserve team]] manager from January 1983.<ref name="Kent">{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Jeff|title=Port Vale Personalities|publisher=Witan Books|page=217|year=1996|isbn=0-9529152-0-0|id= {{ASIN|0952915200|country=ca}}}}</ref> While at [[Vale Park]], Oakes was forced to make one final Football League appearance during an injury crisis – his 776th match in the league.<ref name="Kent"/> At 41 years and 60 days old, Oakes was unable to prevent the injury -ravaged team from losing to [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]] 1–0, the club's sixth straight loss.<ref name="Kent" /><ref>{{cite Sackednews in|last1=Fielding order|first1=Rob |title=Port Vale one hit wonders: number eleven Alan Oakes |url=https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2021/09/port-vale-one-hit-wonders-number-eleven-alan-oakes/ |access-date=14 September 2021 |work=onevalefan.co.uk |date=14 September 2021}}</ref> Sacked to save money in December 1983, he was brought back to the club as a coach in August 1984.<ref name="Kent"/> After being demoted to the position of youth coach in December 1987, he resigned in protest.<ref name="Kent"/>

In 1992, Oakes returnreturned to Chester on the coaching staff, and in [[1993–94 in English football|1993–94]], he assisted [[Graham Barrow]] and [[Joe Hinnigan]] as Chester were promoted to the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]].

Alan Oakes is the best -known member of a prominent football family. His cousin [[Glyn Pardoe]] was also a member of the Manchester City side in the 1960s and 70s,. and hisHis son [[Michael Oakes|Michael]] is a professional footballer who has played for [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] and [[Cardiff City F.C.|Cardiff City]] as a [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]]. His nephew, [[Chris Blackburn]], played for [[Chester City F.C.|Chester]], [[Morecambe F.C.|Morecambe]], and [[Wrexham A.F.C.|Wrexham]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aldershot/7403484.stm|title=Aldershot complete Blackburn deal |date=15 May 2008|workpublisher=BBC Sport|access-date=12 June 2009}}</ref>

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